Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury
Cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) often results in bilateral impairment of the arms, leading to difficulties in performing daily activities. However, little is known about the neuromotor alterations that affect the ability of individuals with cSCI to perform coordinated movements with both arms. To...
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| Format: | Article |
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IEEE
2023-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10233106/ |
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| author | Amy Bellitto Alice De Luca Simona Gamba Luca Losio Antonino Massone Maura Casadio Camilla Pierella |
| author_facet | Amy Bellitto Alice De Luca Simona Gamba Luca Losio Antonino Massone Maura Casadio Camilla Pierella |
| author_sort | Amy Bellitto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) often results in bilateral impairment of the arms, leading to difficulties in performing daily activities. However, little is known about the neuromotor alterations that affect the ability of individuals with cSCI to perform coordinated movements with both arms. To address this issue, we developed and tested a functional assessment that integrates clinical, kinematic, and muscle activity measures, including the evaluation of bilateral arm movements. Twelve subjects with a C5-C7 spinal lesion and six unimpaired subjects underwent an evaluation that included three tests: the Manual Muscle Test, Range Of Motion test and Arm stabilisation test, a subsection of the “Van Lieshout arm/hand function test”. During the latter, we recorded kinematic and muscle activity data from the upper-body during the execution of a set of movements that required participants to stabilize both arms against gravity at different configurations. Analytical methods, including muscle synergies, spinal maps, and Principal Component Analysis, were used to analyse the data. Clinical tests detected limitations in shoulder abduction-flexion of cSCI participants and alterations in elbows-wrists motor function. The instrumented assessment provided insight into how these limitations impacted the ability of cSCI participants to perform bilateral movements. They exhibited severe difficulty in performing movements involving over-the-shoulder motion and shoulder internal rotation due to altered patterns of activity of the scapular stabilizer muscles, latissimus dorsi, pectoralis, and triceps. Our findings shed light on the bilateral neuromotor changes that occur post-cSCI addressing not only motor deficits, but also the underlying abnormal, weak, or silent muscle activations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:44:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ee1c7490c05f460fba07f150774bd500 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1558-0210 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:44:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-ee1c7490c05f460fba07f150774bd5002023-09-14T23:00:11ZengIEEEIEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering1558-02102023-01-01313607361810.1109/TNSRE.2023.330953910233106Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord InjuryAmy Bellitto0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5085-6689Alice De Luca1Simona Gamba2Luca Losio3Antonino Massone4Maura Casadio5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2338-8995Camilla Pierella6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8108-9363Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genova, Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genova, Genoa, ItalySpinal Cord Unit, Santa Corona Hospital, ASL2 Savonese, Pietra Ligure, ItalySpinal Cord Unit, Santa Corona Hospital, ASL2 Savonese, Pietra Ligure, ItalySpinal Cord Unit, Santa Corona Hospital, ASL2 Savonese, Pietra Ligure, ItalyDepartment of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genova, Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genova, Genoa, ItalyCervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) often results in bilateral impairment of the arms, leading to difficulties in performing daily activities. However, little is known about the neuromotor alterations that affect the ability of individuals with cSCI to perform coordinated movements with both arms. To address this issue, we developed and tested a functional assessment that integrates clinical, kinematic, and muscle activity measures, including the evaluation of bilateral arm movements. Twelve subjects with a C5-C7 spinal lesion and six unimpaired subjects underwent an evaluation that included three tests: the Manual Muscle Test, Range Of Motion test and Arm stabilisation test, a subsection of the “Van Lieshout arm/hand function test”. During the latter, we recorded kinematic and muscle activity data from the upper-body during the execution of a set of movements that required participants to stabilize both arms against gravity at different configurations. Analytical methods, including muscle synergies, spinal maps, and Principal Component Analysis, were used to analyse the data. Clinical tests detected limitations in shoulder abduction-flexion of cSCI participants and alterations in elbows-wrists motor function. The instrumented assessment provided insight into how these limitations impacted the ability of cSCI participants to perform bilateral movements. They exhibited severe difficulty in performing movements involving over-the-shoulder motion and shoulder internal rotation due to altered patterns of activity of the scapular stabilizer muscles, latissimus dorsi, pectoralis, and triceps. Our findings shed light on the bilateral neuromotor changes that occur post-cSCI addressing not only motor deficits, but also the underlying abnormal, weak, or silent muscle activations.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10233106/Spinal cord injurybilateral arm movementsurface electromyographymuscle synergiesspinal maps |
| spellingShingle | Amy Bellitto Alice De Luca Simona Gamba Luca Losio Antonino Massone Maura Casadio Camilla Pierella Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering Spinal cord injury bilateral arm movement surface electromyography muscle synergies spinal maps |
| title | Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury |
| title_full | Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury |
| title_fullStr | Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury |
| title_full_unstemmed | Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury |
| title_short | Clinical, Kinematic and Muscle Assessment of Bilateral Coordinated Upper-Limb Movements Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury |
| title_sort | clinical kinematic and muscle assessment of bilateral coordinated upper limb movements following cervical spinal cord injury |
| topic | Spinal cord injury bilateral arm movement surface electromyography muscle synergies spinal maps |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10233106/ |
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